Ang Bandang Shirley’s ‘teleserye’ blues

MANILA, Philippines - Ang Bandang Shirley delivers their second album “Tama na ang Drama” encased in a four-year-old shell of collected experiences. It’s a record that’s slightly less sweet and slightly more hard-edged than the band’s first outing, “Themesongs”; a step forward for an act whose songs like Sa Madaling Salita and Habulan/Patintero/Larong Kalye, have become anthems of proclamations of passion and burning love.

While listening to “Tama na ang Drama,” to tracks like the acid-laced Taksil, and the laugh-out-loud title track, Supreme dreamed up this teleserye-themed spread. We caught up with Ang Bandang Shirley at the shoot, and spoke to them about growing up, winding down, and compartmentalizing side projects.

SUPREME: How much has changed with you guys as a band for the last four years?

Ean Aguila (guitarist): A lot of us in the band went through major changes in our lives. Some got married. Some got fatter. Some ate vegetables.

Selena Salang (vocalist): We’ve all grown older and probably a little bit more serious. Since “Themesongs,” though, we’ve had to face all these life changes and question ourselves constantly if we should keep making music and what exactly our goals were. We’re still going through that process. I think our band is coming to terms with it, and this has put a different spin on our experience from our previous mode.

Jing Gaddi (bassist): More bandmates getting married (Owel in 2009, Heidi [our former keyboardist) in 2010, and Zig in 2012; I’ve been married since 2006), Owel’s wife Nice bore Grac, their son, while Zig is also an expectant father. When Heidi got married, she decided to retire from the band to concentrate on motherhood and her photography practice. Most of us also have gone into the professional world.

“Tama Na Ang Drama” is less of that wee, indie sound compared to “Themesongs.” How did this decision come about?

Kathy Gener (manager): It just came about naturally because everybody just grew up musically and learned a lot more techniques. I think it really helped that Owel, Ean and Joe shifted college courses and pursued a music production course in CSB. 

Selena: I think there may have been some conscious effort to veer away from twee because we’d been sick of photo shoots and video shoots that demanded us to wear bright colors or plaster smiles on our faces or do silly dancing just because (we) sounded like that kind of band. Don’t get me wrong, in real life, we like doing those things and we’re a happy bunch. But ultimately, we want people to see us as we are, as real people, and our songs on this album include our darker sides along with the romantic and fun.

What are some of the new things you tried in Drama?

Ean: We hired a producer (Jerome Velasco) so that there would be an unbiased ear to criticize us.

Joe Fontanilla (guitarist): A lot of different sounds tailored for the song as opposed to having one great sound for everything.

Zig Rabara (drummer): We had a lot more songwriters contributing on this album so the song arrangement phase really needed to be collaborative. Ideas were coming in left and right so we had to be careful picking the ones that worked.

You guys are in a more different position now compared to your last album. How did that affect the sound and songwriting?

Jing: The main difference now with “Drama” is the fact that there are more songwriters. That fact in itself affects the overall sound and songwriting process. However, whoever it is who wrote the song, all of us will still sit down together to collaborate and contribute whatever we can to achieve that so-called “Shirley sound,” whatever that sounds like. (Laughs)

Owel Alvero (vocalist): I think the fact that there are a lot of people sharing the songwriting “burden” meant that we could stretch out and write about more specific things, or attempt arrangements that don’t necessarily have to sound like “the big hit single.” Personally, I think if you have a songwriter like Ean hitting his stride, you just get out of his way and try to fill in the blanks around the future classics he’s churning out.

Each of you also has a lot of side projects like Owel with Grandpricks, Ean with Stomachine, Zig with The Purplechickens, Jing with Blidit, Kathy with Once More with Feeling, and Selena with Slow Hello. How did that affect the album, musically speaking?

Joe: Having side projects allows you to know what works and what doesn’t within the framework of the said project.

Zig: I try to keep Shirley stuff separate from the Purplechickens stuff because the music is very different and has very different requirements. On Shirley songs, I need to be a more song-oriented player and provide a solid foundation for all of the craziness that the guitarists and singers do. I can take more risks with the Purplechickens’ material. I guess it all balances out in the end.

Kathy: In my case, it enabled me to see a different perspective. Variety energized my creativity all the more.

Owel: These days there are The Strangeness/Don’t Bogart The Can Man, who are almost the same bands that play almost opposite things. That’s why we have side projects: We want to play different things, and we compartmentalize. Shirley somehow got to a point where it exists apart from the band members, these songs taking on lives of their own. I feel like it would be very selfish of us as songwriters and musicians to try to dictate the sound. It’s sort of like the prime directive, letting whatever Shirley is as a concept exist and develop naturally, some weird dialogue between us songwriters and whoever chooses to be the audience.

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The “Tama na ang Drama” album launch is today, 8 p.m. at the B-Side courtyard.

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